The determined spirit of the Spaniards was now thoroughly aroused, and they prepared an attack more terrible than any that had yet been made. Two princes of the blood royal of France came to watch the extraordinary display, and brought considerable assistance in engineers and troops. Floating batteries were made by cutting down the upper works of menof-war and frigates, and furnishing them with means of putting out any fire. They were constructed bombproof, and their decks were provided with a penthouse, from which the shot should roll off into the water, and fortified on the larboard side with green timber, six or seven feet thick, and with raw hides. Ten of these batteries were ready, and to aid their efforts eighty gunboats, carrying heavy cannon for the discharge of shot, and mortars for throwing shells ; and forty-seven vessels of war also were to join in the attack.

Eliot, in the meanwhile, had accustomed his men to serve the guns with rapidity and precision. He had provided means for cooling them, as the frequent discharges heated them too much, and had numerous furnaces ready to make the balls redhot, with barrows full of sand to carry them to the batteries, and everything was arranged beforehand. On the morning of September 13, 1782, the floating batteries were brought within range, and for two hours the whole of the Spanish and French forces, consisting of forty thousand men, and with one thousand pieces of cannon, were firing and bombarding in all directions, while the English returned it with

equal activity; but the heaviest shells rebounded from the tops of these formidable batteries, and 32pound shot seemed to make no impression on their hulls.

The red-hot shot began to be used about noon. About two o'clock the admiral's battering-ship began to smoke on the side exposed to the garrison, and his second also was in the same condition. At eight the Spanish fire had almost ceased; they then threw up rockets as signals of distress. About an hour after midnight, the ship that first smoked burst into flames. The light was equal to that of noonday, and the British artillery were able to point their guns with the utmost precision. Between three and four, six others were on fire; six blew up, three burnt to the water's edge, the powder in their magazines having been wetted, and one was afterwards burnt by the English. This success was due to the red-hot shot.

The attack totally failed; the enemy no longer offered to proceed by force; the garrison was relieved again by a British fleet; and at the treaty of peace in 1783 this valuable fortress remained in the hands of the British. General Eliot was made Lord Heathfield; his portrait is in the National Gallery, and represents him as holding the keys of Gibraltar in his hand. From the Fourth Book of the Christian Knowledge Society.

Were half the power that fills the world with terror, Were half the wealth bestowed on camps and courts, Given to redeem the human mind from error,

There were no need of arsenals nor forts.-Longfellow.

45. THE BURNING OF MOSCOW, 1812.

Buonaparte, by the greatest exertions, and at all risks, had forced his army on towards Moscow, and on September 14, 1812, he stood on the Hill of Salvation, and saw the city, the ancient capital of the Russian Empire, before him, exclaiming, as he thought of the state of his army, "It was high time." He waited, expecting a deputation from the inhabitants; but the whole population of three hundred thousand persons had deserted their homes, and left him a desolation. This astonished him. He hoped, however, that it would afford quarters and rest for his army during the miseries of a Northern winter.

He entered the town late that day. The same night the bazaar was found on fire; blame was laid on the French soldiers, who were supposed to have done it in drunkenness. Next day, by the activity of the Duke of Treviso and the troops, the flames were subdued. The next night, Ségur tells us that he was awaked, as he slept near the person of Napoleon, in the imperial palace, the Kremlin, by the light of fire, and saw with anxiety that the flames arose just in such a quarter that the wind blew them towards the Kremlin. The wind changed, and he, contented with his own relief, slept again; but he was again awaked, and found the flames springing up in a new quarter, so that the wind blew them again upon the palace. Three times that night did the wind change from north to west, and three times the flames broke out so as to drive directly on the Kremlin.

The next day officers arrived from all quarters, and all their accounts agreed. The very first night the French entered Moscow, between the fourteenth and fifteenth of September, a fire-balloon was seen to settle on the palace of a Russian prince, and consumed it. This had been the signal. Fire was then immediately set to the Exchange, and Russian police soldiers were seen stirring it up with tarred lances.

Howitzer shells were placed in the stoves of houses, and when the French crowded round for warmth, exploded and wounded them. Perhaps they retired and sought fresh quarters; but as they were on the point of entering some house, shut up and uninhabited, faint explosions were heard, followed by a light smoke, which gradually became thick and black, and then reddish, till presently the whole edifice was involved in flames. All had seen hideous-looking men covered with rags, and women resembling furies, wandering among the flames. These wretches, intoxicated with wine and success, were no longer at the pains to conceal themselves, but proceeded in triumph through the blazing streets. It was said

that these banditti had been released from prison, by the Russian generals, for the purpose of burning Moscow.

The danger of losing their winter shelter was now serious to the French. Orders were issued immediately to shoot all incendiaries on the spot. The imperial guard was under arms in the Kremlin, and the whole army was on foot. While the troops were yet struggling with the conflagration, and the